Illuminated display



23, 1933. F, LEBlUs l 1,910,702

ILLUMINATED DISPLAY l Filed June 24, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 23, 1933., FQ EBMS 1,910,302

` ILLUMINATED DI SPLAY Filed lune 24, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet Fig.9.

Fig. 8.

Inventor;

Patented May` `23, 1933y UNITED Vfs'rrres,

FRANZLEBIUS, OF ESSEN, GERMANY ILLUMINATED DISPLAY Application led .Tune 24, 1930, Serial No. 468,515, and :ln Germany February 9, 1928.

l@ the operator to constantly supervise the lettering or drawing as drafted byhim. In

addition, the invention ensures that the operation ol the'iarrangement can be checked by the corresponding adjustment of the contacts on the contact table serving as an intermediary.I p

klVV ith a similar object inl view, the proceeding was hitherto adopted o writing on P a pole plate either directly with a pen connected up with a current or an electro-magnet, however, the operator was only ableto approximately bear the lettering in mind by practice; 'at any rate, he could see nothing o'l" what was written or drawn. In order to .25 remedy thisiron filings Wereused by way of example which dropped out of the pen when: used for writing, thus acting a'svcontact makers; however, with this method the contacts were only made quite by chance, at

3@ any rate without any certainty whatever;

. moreover, theworlr produced lacked'neatness. 'lhe lings were certainly visible on the pole plate, lout security was not yet given n as to whether and how they had made con- @5 tact. According to another process, writing is effected by a blow-pipe into which lead dust is blown and melted lon the pole plate as a stencil. rlhe written characters are certainly ,lf/4@ visible on the pole plate, and-the operator is aware that the displayed lettering possibly corresponds with the written characters; however, the melting process is so dependent upon chance that the desired characters are ,is distorted by irregularities -in the melted on stencil in a wholly undesired measureu Moreover the risticii the insulating material being destroyed is very great. Besides, the operator has to so droit the characters or to lines by approximately estimating the' space at his disposal that sutlicient space is left within which he can completev the writing.

Other methods of a similar nature have, it -is true, been attempted, but all of them have the disadvantage of not operating with 55 certainty and producing lines or characters with any degree of accuracy. ln particular, security is never adorded that the control is actually transmitted to the illuminated display panel, moreover, no checking means are 69 provided on the contact table proper,

In accordance with the invention, the drawing or display lettering is visibly drafted on a drawing hoard with a corresponding drawing pen instead of directly on the'pole il@ board, and transmitted to the pole plate by means of .a` system of links. .Gn the pole late contact can then be made by a contact ball or thelilre in an exactly corresponding manner; Hence the characters written by 7@ the operator remain visible and can naturallyA be copied by using stencils according to a pattern written or printed beforehand. Even if it should happen that, through lack of skill or practice, there is no possibility of '75 completing the writing within the available space, it suces in this case to quickly extinguish what has already been written and appeared on the illuminated panel by means o a push-button, whereupon the operator can immediatelystart writing againe Now, in order to have addltional means of supervision on the contact table, the contact levers provided are furnished with movable heads formed ot upright pendulums which, A

on being connected up, drop down from one ofthe positions corresponding to the position of rest. Security is in the first instance thus given that the contact concerned remains in the contact position whilst the letters are being developed lso that the lamps concerned remain cut in with-certainty on the lamp panel when the contact ball on the pole board has releasedthe corresponding contact.. At the same time a. copy of the originally drawn lines or characters is produced in the position of'each of these contact levers thrown over whilst writing was being done, this copy v showing the operator immediately and constantly that the whole arrangement is workin reality are provided in a plurality, being` ing accurately. llt troubles should actually occur, the source of the trouble can at once be detected.

'llhe reversal of the contact levers into the position of rest with consequent extinguishment of the lamp characters is effected by an ordinar push-button which excites a magnet con uctor bar carried in front of all contactV levers, and attracts all contacts uniformly. 'llhe possibility is also given of interposing a stationary display between every second exhibition of the written display proper, this stationary display always being switched on by a specially adjusted closed circuit of the contact levers in their position of rest; this lettering, which corresponds with a specific stationary display, may also be changed from time to time by interposing other contacts.

lin the drawings the arrangement forming the subject of the invention is indicated in a simplified form, individual members, such as contact makers, control levers, etc., which shown only once in most cases. Fig. 1 shows a general arrangement of the mechanism of the illuminated display apparatus, and Fig. 2 a diagrammatic view of the pole plate, contact table and display panel or sign board. ln this figure the three panels, the pole plate, the plate with the control levers, and the lamp panel or sign board are drawn to equal size in order to show the coincidence in the arrangement of the members in the three panels. ln practice the pole plate will be the smallest, the control-lever plate the next largest and the lamp panel or si n board the largest of the three. Practica ly the contact table is not located at the side of the writing table or pole table, but rather above them detail elevation partly in section on a larger same size as the-pole plate.

all

scale of the means for transferring the lettering or drawing from the writing table to the pole plate and including a double parallelo-A gram, whereby the writing is effected of the Fig. 4c is a detail sectional View showing the construction of the writing contact arranged on the transfer'- rin link system with part of the pole plate the pole pins carriedtherein. Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show three different constructions of the control lever, while Fig. 8 shows a detail of Fig.'7. Fi 9 shows part of a control sheet of the disconnecting magnet bars on the contact table.

lln the illuminated display apparatus aclcording to the invention five mam portions are distinguished, namely:

1. A drawing plate 10 upon which the operator drafts the display text or drawing with an ordinary drawing pencil in visible lines,

retoma 2. A copying device 11 which transfers the drafted display lettering to the pole plate,

3. A pole plate 12 in which the individual pole pins are arranged in the same manner as the control contacts on.the control table and thelamps on the display panel,

4. A contact table or board 13` which carries the contacts for each lamp,

5. An illuminated display panel or sign board 14 which carries the lamps.

Each main portion is connected to the other by various circuits to form a unified system. l

rllhe object to be displayed is drafted by the operator on the drawing board. 10 arranged above the pole plate l2 and transterred to the pole plate through the medium of the coupling device 11. The coupling de,- vice consists of two double parallelograms, so-called scissors, arranged above each other, which are pivoted at one side in the ball joint 15 and positively connected by bolts 19, and'which (scissors) extend with the other free end over the drawing board l0 and the pole plate 12. The lower joint quadrangle extending over the pole plate carries a styluslike Contact ball 17 at its extreme end, while the upper joint quadrangleextending over the drawing board is provided with a writing means 18 of any kind (for instance writing pencil) situated exactly above the con-v tact ball. rlhe contact ball 17 and the writing pencil 18 are coordinated in such a manner that with the drawing ot a line on the drawing board simultaneously the contact ball 17 moves in the same movement over the pole plate and operates the respective contacts, while a slight lifting of the drawing pencil 18 suffices to lift the writing contact 17 from the pole plate 12 at the same time. rlhe writing or stylus-like Contact ball 17 which is held by a socket 20 facilitates the drawing or writing as the friction on the pole pins 21 is considerably reduced.

In the pole plate 12 are arranged the pole pins 21 which are separated by insulating material and 'forced slightly out of the plate each by a spring 22. rlhe pole pins 21 are the operating position, while the circuit y,'`

fed from the curren't source 25, serves for returning all levers 23 into the position of rest. Each lamp in the display panel is fed from the current source 26 through the circuit z.

v It is roposed to explain the method of Y 'control y means of the example according to Fig. 1. From the current source 24 a conductor Wire is led to the link system or the contact ball 17 of the copying device 1l, while a second conductor wire is led from the pole pin 21 through the magnet 27 on the contact table 12 to the current source 24. Each pole pin 21 is provided with a magnet 2-7 and a control lever 23. On the opposite side of the pole pins 21 is located the through pole piece 28 which can be fed -with current from the current source 25 through the push-button 29. The operator writes the subject of the display with a free hand or copies the lines of a pattern on drawing paper by using an ordinary drawing pencil secured in the copying device. This causes the writing or stylus-like contact 17 in the same line to come in contact with the pole pins 21 so that the appropriate magnets 27 are successively excited and the levers 23, which are all in engagement with p the pole piece 28 in the position of rest, and moved over into the working position. The 'levers 23 are pivotally supported in such a manner in a bracket 30 on the table 13 that they are capable of being moved over through their middle position either to the left or right. In the construction shown in Fig. 1 the levers 23 are angular-shaped, the arms 31 resting on the conductor 32 in the working position and thus closing the circuit a through connections with the appropriate lamp, the current source 26 and the socket frame of the display panel.

The moment the writing contact 17 leaves a pole pin, the ap ropriate magnet is without current, thev in uction bar being likewise without current when the push-contact 29 .is opened. Thou h the `two functions, in the first case the lig ting of a lamp, in the second case, the extinguishing of a lamp, are then already completed, certainty of contact being made, or of the levers being in the on position, is-efected in the following manner: Each lever carries above its fulcrum a lever 33 projecting upwards which is provided with a weighted head and so connected with the lever 23 by a joint 36 furnished with abutments 34 that every time the lever 23 is moved be ond its right or left-hand inclined position, '1t is further moved through a delinite angle, thereby pressing the lever 23 orA the arm 31 firmly againstits abutment.

In addition, however, a glance at the changing position ofthe thrown over lever heads, which, if required ma be made conspicuous by coloring with pamt, permits the operator to checkl whether Vthe desired contacts have acted with certainty 'on the pole plate. On'the. other hand it facilitates the detection of a 'trouble point as, in case the lever has been reversed and the lamp in the display anel is not burning, the faultcan .only be ound in the circuit a.

Figs. 5 and 6 show other constructions of the control lever 23. .For example in Fi .v5 the lever bears directly against the con uctor 32 and pole piece 28, while according to Fig. 6 a double-ended contro lever is used whose arm 31 bears against the current conductor, the arm 31 engaging with the pole piece. The latter construction, possesses the advantage that the conductor, magnet and pole piece are readily -accessible when the lever is taken out of its bearing.

. Fig. 7 shows another construction in accordance with the invention which possesses further essential advantages. In this construction all current circuits are fed from one current source 24. When writing the text-of a bar 28 is situated which is fed with current by the wire w, and with which the levers correspondin with the stationary display are brought 1n contact, this being achieved in the following manner: v

A, screw pin 35 `made of insulating material is inserted in the arm 31 of the, contact lever 23 or of all levers, this screw pin being capable of adjustmentso that its bottom surface either projects beyond the arm 31 or is entirely within the bore. Now, if no stationary display'is to appear when .a written display is cut out, all insulating screw pins 35 are screwed out until they en gage with the conductor 32 so that no contact is established. In the other case, that is, if a stationary display is to be interposed, this is first written by the operator similarly to the normal written display. Thereupon the insulating pin 35 in each arm 31l of the levers, which are attracted into the working position by the magnets 27, are screwed intoy the bore again. The levers prepared in thisI manner now drop directly on the conductor 32` every time a display picture drawn by the operator is switched oil', the conductor being then lfed with current by operating the switch 37 so that the statlonary display appears repeatedly von the lamp panel. When the operator has prepared the stencil for a new pattern, the circuit of the stationan f display is again broken by the switch 37, .vhereupon hemay again start writing.

Similarly, a trade-mark, which waswritten beforehand, may, for instance, be left standing on a written display, while writing of the appropriate text may be proceeded with-in continuations after the text has been cut out. In this case provision must be made for switching on the induction bars in` groups, as shown in Fig. 9, this being eifcted by operating the push-contacts 29 at will,

. while in the case of the non-operated convil@ . member.

tacts 29', the levers remain in the operative position. 'llo extinguish the entire display with this arrangement, all push-contacts 29 must be closed.

What li claim is:

l. An electric display system comprising a lamp board includmg a plurality of lamps, rst and second circuit for each lamp, means for closingthe first or the second circuit `for each lamp comprising' a conducting switching member for each lamp movable to two positions and means cooperating with the switching-member in the first position to close the first circuit and in the second position to close the second circuittc the lamp, means on the switching member adjustable at will for rendering it edective or inei'ective to closel the first circuit when in said first position, electromagnetic means inclividual to each switching member for moving it. to said second position to close the second circuit, common electromagnetic means for moving all of the switching members to the first position to close all of the first circuits rendered e'ective by the adjusting means, means for individually energizing the first means and means for energizing the common means.

2. An elec-tric display system las claimed in claim l, wherein said adjusting means comprises a screw of insulating material adjustably mounted in thev conducting switch FRANZ inneres.v

Lemme 

